ISTANBUL — On Feb. 28, the United States and Israel shocked the world by launching strikes across Iran and assassinating the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Civilian casualties quickly mounted, including 150 civilians — mostly children — killed when American missiles struck an elementary school. Iran duly retaliated by targeting Israel and U.S. bases across the region and throttling maritime transit through the Strait of Hormuz. The unilateral aggression against Iran lacked international legitimacy and destabilized the entire Middle East. Arab countries suffered retaliatory attacks from Iran because they host American bases, and countries around the world faced high economic costs from spiking energy prices. The damage was also reputational for Gulf countries, in terms of safety and security. Then, on April 7, the New York Times published a detailed report about how Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had convinced U.S. President Donald Trump to attack Iran, a decision that now needs to be examined from two perspectives. First, it shows just how easily th